Summary

A self-report tool developed by Garry Richards in the 1980's which uses 35-items to measure 7 dimensions of physical self-concept (Richards, 1987), plus 7 items to measure the self-perceived importance of each physical self domain.

It is appropriate for use in measuring multiple dimensions of physical self-concept, with adolescents and adults, and for investigating the effects of physical education, body image and weight loss / fitness on physical self-concept.

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Description

This 42-item scale is based on the Shavelson et al. (1976) hierarchical model of self-concept and is designed to measure physical self perceptions. The first part of the scale comprises 35-items which are scored on an eight point Likert scale proposed by Richards (1987), ranging from 1 (false – not like me) to 8 (true – like me).

Items

The items include a range of self–statements such as "I am good looking" (Appearance) and "If I get sick I get well quickly" (Health).

There are an equal number of positively- and negatively-worded items. Negatively-worded items should be scored in reverse and an average score for each of the seven proposed factors calculated. A higher score on the scale (closer to eight) indicates more positive self-perceptions.

Factors

These factor loadings are stable across age groups and gender (Richards).

Importance

The second part of the scale comprises seven items about the importance of each of the seven RPSC factors for participants on a five point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important). Use of these questions is optional, depending on the purposes of the study.

Reliability and validity

The RPSC scale has demonstrated reliability for use with adolescents. Richards (1987) reported internal reliability alpha coefficients ranging from .81 to .92, for total and factor scores, for both male and female adolescent participants.

Test-retest (three week interval) reliability was high for boys (r =
.86) and girls (r = .85), as reported by Richards demonstrating the reliability of the scale over time. In a review of three dominant physical self-concept measures, Marsh et al. (1994), strongly supported the psychometrics of the RPSC with a range of factor internal reliability
scores of .86 to 90, and recommended it for use in research studies.

The instrument has been tested on a large, representative sample in Australia and the factor structure holds up well. The RPSC was used in a large, comparative study of the factor structure of three major physical self-concept instruments (Marsh et al., 1994).

SPSS syntax

Items

Variable name

Item content

PS01BB

I like the body build I have

PS02SA

I would like to be more physically able

PS03AP

I am good looking

PS04HE

I seem to be always catching some sickness

PS05AC

I like to take things easy and avoid physical activity, games or sports